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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27117841">Good For The Heart</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeachGO3/pseuds/PeachGO3'>PeachGO3</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Domestic Avengers, Fluff, Halloween, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pumpkins, this is very 2013 oh my god</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 17:48:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,143</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27117841</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeachGO3/pseuds/PeachGO3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Bruce feels uneasy at Tony’s Halloween party – Thor changes that ♡</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bruce Banner/Thor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>62</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Good For The Heart</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>CW: Bruce gets harassed at the beginning</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Whenever Tony throws a party in the Tower, Bruce remembers why he had hesitated to move here in the first place. He’s not made for gleeful crowds, for loud music and tiny spaces.</p><p>Fumbling with his hands, he makes his way past another group of people whose faces he has never seen before. Even people he does know, like Steve Rogers or Tony, are hard to recognize in the dim lights and their costumes.</p><p>“You are the greatest bore I’ve ever had the pleasure of housing,” he remembers Tony saying when Bruce told him that he did not want to dress up.</p><p>He is not the only one without a costume, but Bruce doubts those other guests have reasons as stupid as his.</p><p>He’s pathetic, he thinks when he ducks his head after a group cheers loudly to his right. He used to like parties. Now he doesn’t even know what to do with himself.</p><p>“Doctor,” he hears someone slur to his left. “Just a jumper? No costume?” the man drawls into his ear. One arm creeps around Bruce’s hip.</p><p>“Yeah, no,” Bruce says eloquently and tries to shove him away. Even though the guy’s voice sounds familiar, Bruce cannot see his face through all that paint. He smells.</p><p>Bruce does not want to, but when he thinks about just letting himself get dragged into a corner to make out – better than doing nothing – a warm presence enters his personal space from the other side.</p><p>“Doctor Banner?” Thor’s deep voice asks, and the clown that had pestered him retreats in an instant, vanishing in the crowd around the sofa.</p><p>Bruce adjusts his sleeves in a poor excuse to fumble with his wrists. “Thanks. Saved by the bell,” he smiles and immediately looks down again because, wow, Thor sure is gorgeous despite his obscure headwear. With the previous stench still in Bruce’s nose, Thor’s cologne smells even more amazing.</p><p>“I am not a bell,” he says with a boisterous laugh and pats Bruce’s shoulder. His hands are massive, attached to giant naked arms, and they guide Bruce away from the crowd. He feels better already, if a bit flustered.</p><p>“Nice antlers,” he says with a pointed finger, and Thor smiles. Strands of hair fall into his face as he looks down to Bruce. “Thank you! They belong to a bilgesnipe, native to Vanaheim. Stark was kind enough to make a pair of these for me. Of course, I have neither the scales nor the height, but the general idea comes across, I think.”</p><p>“You are already very tall,” Bruce smiles awkwardly. Geez, he sounds like a teenager – he should stop talking.</p><p>“Has that man bothered you?” Thor asks out of nowhere, his voice lower than before. It makes Bruce falter. “No, um,” he lies.</p><p>“Has he talked to you before?”</p><p>“No… Err, listen,” Bruce says with a look around. “I’m just here out of politeness anyway. Please don’t concern yourself with that. I know how much you like Tony’s parties, you should enjoy yourself.”</p><p>“I can’t do that very well if I know my friend to be uncomfortable, now, can I?” Thor smiles and rubs a warm thumb over Bruce’s shoulder. Even through the sweater’s thick fabric, the Asgardian radiance prickles on Bruce’s skin. It feels so pleasant Bruce starts leaning into the touch.</p><p>“That’s very nice of you to say,” he says with a smile.</p><p>Thor nods. “I noticed your discomfort for afar earlier. I’m sorry for only stepping in now.”</p><p>Bruce shakes his head and is about to tell him that he shouldn’t feel obliged to look out for him like that, but he is so taken aback by that much care that Thor uses the silence to ask, “It’s about the monsters, is it not?”</p><p>Bruce swallows. “Um, yeah. Kind of.”</p><p>Thor nods in understanding. And just like this, Bruce opens up: “I already feel like a monster all year round, so I’m not really in the mood to dress up.” He shrugs. “I can’t watch horror movies anymore either. Not good for the heart. The other guy kind of ruined Halloween for me, I guess.”</p><p>Thor’s kind face has hardened. “I’m sorry to hear that,” he says with genuine regret.</p><p>“It’s not that bad. Really, I don’t care that much. No biggie. Still, thank you.”</p><p>Thor does not let him leave the conversation, which Bruce is kind of grateful for. “You know, at first,” Thor says with a glance to the party crowd, “I thought the Hulk was everywhere during this season. It made perfect sense to me, seeing how this Halloween festivity is the season of both fear <em>and</em> fun, because I find the Hulk to be a frightening beast as well as a dear friend. It wasn’t until Rogers explained to me that I have mistaken him for someone else that I started to really think about your Midgardian traditions and their faults.”</p><p>Bruce softens at the words. “What? W-what, who have you mistaken him for?” he asks.</p><p>“Someone called Frankenstein,” Thor frowns. He says the name as though it was no big deal, just someone to be sidelined, and it makes Bruce chuckle.</p><p>“The Hulk isn’t the be-all and end-all in your life, Banner,” Thor smiles. “The television portal loves him though.”</p><p>“Yeah, he’s the news’ darling,” Bruce nods, not as enthusiastic about that kind of fame as Thor. But Thor instantly notices and tries to cheer him up: “But so are you! I hear people talk about Doctor Banner just as much!” he says with another hand on Bruce’s shoulder.</p><p>“Thanks,” Bruce just says. The music seems to swell and people start singing. Bruce sighs at the excitement that he himself cannot have anymore, and how he mutated into a millstone around Thor’s neck. Of all the ways he did <em>not</em> want to spend this evening –</p><p>“Y’know,” Bruce says, barely above a whisper, “sometimes I just… don’t feel like I’m good enough as myself.”</p><p>The hand on his shoulder stops, and Bruce wants to disappear into the ground. What’s wrong with him, bothering Thor with all that self-pity?</p><p>Just when he wants to apologize, Thor’s hand comes up to stroke his neck, and Bruce swallows hard at the gentle touch. “Let me show you something,” Thor says, his voice gravelly and deep. His smile twinkles like the stars.</p><p>Bruce lets him guide them through the party. Thor is one mountain of a man – a God, more like – like a shield, not only physically but mentally, too. The sight of his broad back makes Bruce remember that with him around, the other guy is not much of a threat.</p><p>His hand around Bruce’s sends comforting warmth through his whole body.</p><p>Several people approach Thor, but he excuses every single one. He’s never impolite or rude but direct enough to enable them to continue their way to the entrance area. Bruce is envious of so much charm. Then again, Thor is a prince where he comes from. Hundreds of years of royal training probably prepared him perfectly for situations like this.</p><p>Bruce has a hunch about what Thor wants to show him. The team had made jack-o’-lanterns yesterday, and Thor had taken the cultural origins of ‘chasing away evil spirits’ way too literally.</p><p>“The Hulk would chase away any enemy, no matter how evil,” he remembers Thor’s proud declaration. He had carved the other guy’s face into his pumpkin so artistically that Clint had thought about not even displaying his own, decidedly less artsy lantern.</p><p>The adoration Bruce had felt yesterday resurfaces at the memory. The other guy as a protector from evil was a nice sentiment, especially coming from Thor, who had fought countless beasts in serious battles. An Asgardian, a Viking God from outer space, must know what he’s talking about when it comes to monsters, mustn’t he?</p><p>“Here,” Thor says softly when they reach the entrance. It is dark here, and the lanterns’ lights dance beautifully on his face.</p><p>“I know,” Bruce smiles, “the pumpkin.” The other guy’s grimace grins at him from in-between the Halloween decoration. Bruce, like Natasha, had made his own lantern with cookie cutters. Not very sophisticated. But the stars and moons cast pretty shapes of light onto the wall.</p><p>Bruce’s chest broadens with a deep breath. The fact that Thor brought him to this quiet corner to cheer him up is very sweet.</p><p>“I still can’t believe you did this,” he smiles and squeezes the hand Thor is still holding. “Thanks, really. Frankenstein’s monster would be jealous.”</p><p>“He surely envies such fierceness and bravery,” Thor says, and Bruce laughs quietly at how genuine his tone is.</p><p>“I do not know him. However,” Thor continues, “there is something I’m sure he could never have, one thing he must envy the most.” He lets go of Bruce’s hand – time to start fumbling again – and walks to his lantern to take off the lid he carved and reaches into it.</p><p>“This is integral to this piece,” Thor says and hands Bruce the tiny pumpkin he just took out of the lantern. Bruce takes it carefully, fingers brushing Thor’s in softness. He turns it in his hands. Looks familiar. “That’s…”</p><p>Bruce realizes what’s going on, and his bright laugh and jumping stomach match the magic of the lanterns. “You carved a… a pair of glasses into it?” he asks.</p><p>“And a small mouth,” Thor says and points to it with a grin. “There.” He clears his throat. “It’s you. It’s a tiny Bruce Banner.”</p><p>Bruce looks up at him with sparkling eyes. He holds the vegetable like a treasure, clutching onto it.</p><p>“I wanted to show you that,” Thor beams.</p><p>“You put me in a Hulk jack-o’-lantern? Hulk-o’-lantern?” Bruce asks. The way his voice says that name that he usually tries to avoid makes him even softer. That’s what Thor can do to him, apparently.</p><p>“I thought it sensible,” Thor says, stepping closer. “The Hulk may chase away the evil spirits, but so may warmth and love. A fight without compassion is futile. So, I thought it belonged there.” He lowered his voice and gently laid his hands on top of Bruce’s. They were warm and so, so big.</p><p>“He and his all good qualities cannot be without <em>you</em>. Everyone needs their heart.” Thor squeezes his hands. “<em>You</em> are the good.”</p><p>Completely taken aback, Bruce looks down. He still notices Thor tilting his head to watch.</p><p>“T-thanks, Thor,” he stutters. “Y’know,” he whispers, “so often he feels like a burden. Which, yeah, technically it is, I guess.”</p><p>“And you are very strong for carrying it,” Thor says softly.</p><p>“But he doesn’t feel like that when I’m with you,” Bruce says, meeting his eyes again. “Y’know, that’s kind of amazing! And now this pumpkin thing… I… I don’t know what to say.” His face breaks into a wide smile, so intense that it’s crooked, and his eyes even wet a little bit.</p><p>“Then don’t speak,” Thor says gently and smiles as he raises their joint hands, pumpkin still between them. “I’m glad it brought you joy.”</p><p>“It did!” Bruce beams, all soft from these overwhelming emotions. “Can I, like… hug you? That okay?”</p><p>“Hug…? Yes, yes, of course!”</p><p>In an instant, Bruce’s arms are around Thor’s neck. On his tiptoes, his small body meets the curve of Thor’s warm chest as he bends down to hug him back. Bruce squeezes him with a “thank you” muffled into his shoulder.</p><p>Then Thor lifts him ever so slightly, prickling aura perfectly matched by his stubble against Bruce’s neck. His breath steady and warm. His cologne really does smell amazing.</p><p>Hyperboles are unhelpful, Bruce remembers his own paradigm. But, without a doubt, Thor Odinson gives the best hugs in all of the universe. Even when he pulls away, Bruce’s hands stay on his broad shoulders to absorb his otherworldly warmth. Staring into blue eyes shining onto him through blond strands of hair so softly that Bruce feels his stomach jump yet again.</p><p>He sighs and shakes his head, the hand with the pumpkin pressed against his chest. “Oh, man. I’m… Ha. This makes my heart flutter.”</p><p>Thor is alarmed instantly: “Really? Is it bad? Is he… is he coming?”</p><p>“No, I’m fine,” Bruce smiles with a nod. He is unable to look away.</p><p>Thor softens. “Good,” he breathes and smiles back, and even those ridiculous antlers can’t diminish his angelic light.</p><p>“You’re so beautiful,” slips out of Bruce’s mouth. Fortunately, Thor soon throws his royal courting policy (and the antlers) out of the window and just makes out with him. Pressed against a wall, between his big, strong arms, Bruce feels safe. Beneath those hot lips, so keen on exploring him, he feels like <em>Bruce</em>.</p><p>When he breathes against Thor’s neck, thunder roars in the fall storm outside. Enviable indeed, Bruce thinks and smiles into another spellbound kiss.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>That thing with the pumpkin was inspired by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9BcVyTI6zg">this Ragnarok Promo</a>, which you can tell is officially Marvel because they were so afraid of the height difference that they made Ruffalo stand on a box sdhfjksdsk</p><p>Thank you for reading! Please stay safe during Halloween! .✧♡*+:•*</p></blockquote></div></div>
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